Beasley the man for Cats, for now

Beasley

By KEVIN HASKIN

The Capital-Journal

MANHATTAN --- If Kansas State was to open the season today, its starting quarterback would be Jonathan Beasley.

After revealing that on Tuesday, however, offensive coordinator Ron Hudson stressed that he wasn't declaring Beasley the definitive starter.

Instead, Hudson was offering a breakdown for practice this week after Beasley, a 6-foot-1 junior, made the best impression of any of K-State's quarterbacks last Saturday in the Wildcats' first full- blown scrimmage.

"He completed the ball more. It takes a brilliant quarterbacks coach to figure that out, you know," Hudson kidded. "He got rid of it a little quicker, his cadence was a lot better and he had a better appreciation for what we were trying to do with some of the plays.

"But we're going to have some more contact in the next few days to determine if that's the avenue we're going to follow."

For the moment, Beasley heads a pecking order that follows with senior Adam Helm, sophomore Jeremy Milne and freshman Ell Roberson.

Workouts this week, which will include pass-under-pressure drills against the likes of All-Big 12 defensive end Darren Howard, will provide the final solution to which QB will lead the Cats into their season opener on Sept. 11 against Temple.

"We wanted to come out of Saturday with some idea so the team had some semblance of understanding that this is what we're going to do," Hudson added. "They also understand we have two weeks to go and in no way has anyone proven they're definitely the guy at quarterback."

Beasley has loomed as the favorite, though, since the Cats opened fall camp, despite redshirting a year ago and then missing the bulk of spring practice with an injured thumb.

The preliminary endorsement wasn't that big a deal for Beasley, who lost one of these competitions two years ago when Michael Bishop reported to K-State.

"It's a little relief," Beasley acknowledged, "but I haven't gotten it completely 100 percent. I've been named it for now, so I've got to go out and show I'm deserving of the call."

It took awhile for Beasley to separate himself from the field. He admitted to pressing a little at the beginning of fall camp and that led to some early struggles while he shared first-team repetitions with Helm.

If he maintains the No. 1 spot, Beasley will be able to enjoy his achievement, though he can't afford to divert much attention from preparations for the Cats' opener.

"It's important to me. I feel it's a great accomplishment," he said. "I've waited my turn and now it's my time to shine."

What's up with Ell?

Hudson didn't dismiss Roberson from the quarterback picture when asked about the prized freshman recruit. He did envision, however, that Beasley and Helm would continue to get more reps with the first team prior to the opener.

Both of the frontrunners would have to "completely blow up," Hudson said, for Roberson to step in at this point, though he also said the Baytown, Texas, product is still "in the mix."

If K-State waits very long to use him, though, it could get in a situation where it doesn't want to waste a redshirt season, particularly if Roberson is a backup. If he were to play this season, Hudson said, it would be as the No.1 QB.

"That would be the plan," Hudson said. "I don't think that particularly pertains to Ell personally, I think that pertains to anyone as a freshman quarterback."

Snyder attends Texas service

> K-State coach Bill Snyder was in Alvarado, Texas, on Tuesday attending an additional funeral service there for Nancy Bennett, the wife of defensive coordinator Phil Bennett. Alvarado, which is near Fort Worth, is Nancy Bennett's hometown. Among those also expected to attend the service was Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum, who was Bennett's position coach with the Aggies before later hiring him as an assistant.

Quck kicks

> Today begins a period when football recruits can be contacted on the telephone by Division I-A coaches. "We'll make as many (calls) as we can," K-State recruiting coordinator Greg Peterson said. "I don't think we're going to stop."

> The player who inherited Michael Bishop's No. 7 has made one of the strongest impacts among true freshmen thus far. Linebacker Josh Buhl of Mesquite, Texas, hasn't felt much pressure wearing Bishop's number. "Not really," he said. "It's just a number. They didn't retire it or anything. I'm going to take it on to try to make them proud of me, just like Bishop did."

> K-State associate athletics director Jim Epps attended the Kansas-Notre Dame game last Saturday. Epps met with representatives from Dorna Productions, which promotes the Eddie Robinson Classic. K- State will play in the game next year against Iowa on Aug. 26 in Arrowhead Stadium.

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